New Zealand terrorist attack: Why didn’t the Special Air Service respond?

In the dim street lights of South Auckland, Commandos from 1 NZSAS are ready. A shooter is on the move at Rainbow’s End & the Commandos’ role is to neutralise the terrorist threat as part of a fictitious scenario during Exercise Saracen. (Ministry of Defence).

The massacre that took place in two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, invites questions about the country’s counterterrorism (CT) response. Who is responsible for dealing with such situations? Why wasn’t the elite New Zealand Special Air Service (NZSAS) called in? In this article, we break down the country’s different units in an attempt to answer these questions.

The New Zealand CT response has three layers. The first layer is made up of the Armed Offenders Squads (AOS), which are part-time law enforcement units manned by New Zealand police officers from throughout the force. There are approximately 17 AOS teams divided across the country’s major population centers. Each AOS is comprised of between 15 and 30 operators and is supported by negotiation experts. The AOS are very much reactive in nature given their part-time function. For instance, in the case of a terrorist attack, AOS operators would have to abandon their normal duties, report back to their HQ, and then respond to the incident. In counterterrorism and active-shooter scenarios, where time is of the essence, their response time would be excruciatingly slow. During the Christchurch mosque attacks, the local AOS operators were the first responders, but unfortunately were too late to be of any use.

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About the Author

About Stavros Atlamazoglou

Having completed his national service in the Greek army, serving with the 575th Marines Battalion and Army HQ, Stavros is pursuing his passion for history, international affairs, and words at the Johns Hopkins University. You will usually find him on the top of a mountain admiring the view and wondering how he got there.

There actually was an impromptu SOF response. It just so happened that NZSAS and other foreign SOF snipers were just outside Christ Church for an exercise and upon the notice that this was going on, they immediately (including members of the foreign SOF units) began to deploy (in full kit and in civilian vehicles) into the city in support of the local police.